Customer Reviews

The Dark Horse Book Of The Dead

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4 star:		(3)
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Anthologies are almost always a mixed bag of tricks, the alchemical products of well-intentioned editors possessed by some inspired thematic vision that compels them to collect a range of exemplary work under a single banner, ideally providing maximum bang for a reader's buck. With 94 pages of content, including an interesting 11-page prose piece from Robert E. Howard lightly seasoned with a handful of illustrations, its bang for the buck factor is pretty high.

"Nine Cautionary Tales of the Risen and Hungry Dead - Told in Words and Pictures; including famously Dead Author and Patriarch of Terrifying Adventure, Robert E. Howard." It's rare that a book's promotional blurb is worth referring to, but in this case it's appropriate thanks to its nailing of the anthology's overall tone: wry and a tad old school, perhaps the kind of thing Max Gaines would be publishing if the Comics Code Authority hadn't castrated his line of horror comics so many years ago. From the clever twist of Kelley Jones' "The Hungry Ghosts" opener, to the waterlogged horror of Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori," Book of the Dead delivers literate storytelling that doesn't shortchange fans of gore and hanging entrails. Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is the most intriguing entry, hinting at a much larger story that begs for a more elaborate telling, possibly hinted at in the credits which explain this story "marks his return to comics as both writer and artist."

David Crouse and Todd Herman offer up the disturbing "The Ditch;" Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" is a creepy tale with a nice Classics Illustrated-style execution; and Book of the Dead editor Scott Allie himself teams up with Paul Lee and Brian Horton for the surprisingly melancholy "The Magicians." Allie arguably saves the best for last, though, closing out with Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie," sort of Stephen King's Pet Sematary told from the perspective of the pets themselves. Fans of Grant Morrison's overrated WE3 should check this one out to see a twist on a familiar theme done right.

While there are no outright misses here, there are a couple of questionable entries that keep this worthy project from A+ status. Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul" strikes a dubious balance between pretension and confusion as the BPRD track down a ghoulish fellow who only speaks in poetry while Hellboy beats the stuffing out of him, as annoyed by the stylistic quirk as I was. Perhaps some more familiarity with Hellboy would have improved my opinion of the piece, but if so, in this context, it would still be considered a swing and a miss. The other strike is Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge's "Death Boy," a cartoony humor piece that brings to mind the old Sesame Street "one of these things is not like the others" segments. It's not bad, per se, just completely jarring in its tone and a bad fit here.

Nevertheless, the whole is far greater than the sum of its unequal parts, and it's an enjoyable collection worth every penny, suitable not just for genre fans but any fan of good writing and artwork. It's also a perfect introduction to comics for anyone that thinks they're just for kids and/or all about superheroes.

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is a surprisingly varied collection of creepy tales involving revenants of all stripes. A handsome hardcover volume (with a great cover by Gary Gianni), it contains nine stories ranging from the outright fantastical to the strikingly contemporary.

As is the case with any anthology, the stories contained herein are hit or miss, although there are more hits than misses. Many of you investigating this volume will no doubt be interested in Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul," a Hellboy romp that is entertaining (though not his best work). However, Mignola's tale is not the only standout. Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" imagines a Victorian excursion to the Arctic with dire consequences that is exceptional in its artwork and narrative quality; Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is a dark fantasy tale that finds a young swordsman on a quest to rid his world of the hellish evil that has befallen it; Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori" is an atmospheric (and explicitly gruesome) ghost story taking place in feudal Japan; and Evan Dorking and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" explores what happens when dogs and the occult mix.

All of these are worthy entries, but the real standout is "Old Garfield's Heart," a "weird" tale by Robert E. Howard with supebly rendered illustrations by Gary Gianni. This yarn - encompassing 1930s Texas society, history, and black magic - may surprise some readers in that it is a Howard story that is not explicitly fantastic, and reads more in the vein of an M. R. James or William Hope Hodgson tale. The virtuoso composition and execution of this story shows just how good Howard was and will make you want to go out and investiagte his westerns.

Overall, The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is highly recommended for lovers of good old-fashioned horror with a grim and gruesome edge.

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is a fun and entertaining collection of short stories and comics. The stories - each beautifully illustrated - are varied in their tone and approach. Some are comical while others are stark in their bleak presentation.

Bob Fingerman's "Death Boy" is easily one of the most light hearted to be found in the collection. The story contains the comical narration of a boy who acquires the touch of death after a near-death experience and his subsequent struggle with life-after-death in the land of the living. Puns abound and allow for a much needed retreat from the more morbid stories here.

The tale of "The Wallace Expedition" details the gruesome demise of a group exploring the Arctic around the start of the 20th century. Eric Powell is to be commemorated for his dark story and brilliant usage of cross-hatching inkwork with watercolors. The effect is a lively tale of a time gone past. This piece alone could sell the collection and fits in well with the other shorts despite its noticeably different presentation.

Strangely, Mike Mignola's Hellboy Adventure short of "The Ghoul" is an odd match here. The somber and peculiar pace gives a unique feel but lacks any of the sharp moments of revelation or shock that make the other stories so filling. It is an entertaining yet curious read, and ultimately its inability to be a wild success is as much a fault of the excellence found elsewhere in the collection as it is any of its own doing.

Although the mood between pieces can differ radically, they manage to work well together and provide an entertaining read. Unlike the previous, checkered Book of Hauntings, Dark Horse has managed to put together a collection that is thoroughly satisfying with its variety and is well worth its price.

EC Comics is long gone, a victim of 1950's paranoia run amuck. Horror comics themselves went through a very long lull in the 80's and most of the 90's, taking a backseat to superhero and sci-fi related books. But horror comics have come back in a big way over the past decade or so and leading the charge has been Dark Horse Comics, who have really taken up the mantle of EC Comics both in their tone and inventiveness. Dark Horse has been feeding horror-starved fans everything from modern, gory horror, to books based on classic Universal horror films of the 30's and 40's.

A great example is this fantastic, Hardcover graphic novel, "The Dark Horse Book of the Dead", an anthology of ten stories by a host of talented artists and writers including Mike Mignola, Kelley Jones, Evan Dorkin, Guy Davis, and Jill Thompson. The opening tale by Jones is a truly EC inspired tale called "The Hungry Ghosts". Jones' work conjures up memories of EC greats like Jack Davis and Reed Crandall as a lone hunter ventures into haunted woods, endlessly stalked by a horde of ghoulish ghosts, but the hunter has a secret that will keep him alive and free of the spirits.

Mike Mignola's story is a short, Hellboy adventure as Big Red tracks down a poetry-spouting cannibal who has subsisted for centuries by grave robbing and eating the remains. One of my favorite tales was a comedic piece by Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge called "Death Boy". This zany, cartoony story finds a young man who was saved after a suicide attempt, only to be given the touch of death by the Grim Reaper who decides he wants to take a holiday from his work.

"The Magicians" takes a look at the conscience of the practitioners of the black arts as a man raises the skeletal remains of his father in order to have a father and son heart-to-heart conversation. A dark and moody tale to be sure...

"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson is a cautionary tale...Cats should never raise dogs from the dead to use them in their never ending battle with the canines. Dogs just don't like cats, even if the dogs are zombies!

There's also a great short story by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, called"Old Garfield's Heart" which features illustrations by Gary Gianni. While Howard was certainly most well-known for his works of swords and sorcery, he was equally adept at horror as this story will show.

Just a wonderful book of horror tales wrapped up in a gorgeous hardcover edition. Dark Horse continues to be one of the true leaders in modern comic book horror.

Reviewed By Tim Janson

This is the first in the series that I picked up. I was drawn in by Kill Thompson, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones, and was delighted to fin some others that I never knew I knew!
The stories overall were great. For he most part they were interesting and engrossing. did find Mignola's a little tough to chew through, since the poetry only seemed to distract from what was actually happening (which in and of itself was pretty neat). But, of course, his gorgeous art style and fun characters made up for it.
My two favorites, though, were unexpected ones. I know some people might not, but I actually really enjoyed the comicky humor of Fingerman and Langridge's piece. It was cute with charming art.
The absolute stunner, however, was Jill Thompson's. I've been a fan of hers for a while, but I didn't expect something this great. It was cute without being sickly sweet. The characters were fun, and the plot was neat.
Overall, this book was really great, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I've read all 4 of the "Dark Horse Book of ..." books. I actually won all four of them from a Dark Horse Halloween giveaway. (Thanks Dark Horse!) However after reading all four books I can easily say that I would have gladly bought them.

I think any fan of horror, Hellboy or Beasts of Burden will enjoy these collections. I really liked that each book had a classic short story in it with great illustrations by Gary Gianni. His style matches the stories perfectly. I even enjoyed the 3 interviews. I don't remember there being a bad story in the bunch. What the books lack in page count they make up for in content and design. Check em out.

I am actually surprised at the editor's decision to start the book off with a Kelley Jones illustrated tale that offers little more than a Twilight Zone ending. I also know that Mike Mignola has his fans but I never really could get behind Hellboy. The Robert E. Howard story is a strange mixture of Noble Savage hocum and ghost silliness. Still once it gets going, this book is a great mixture of story telling genres both within the traditional comic techniques and innovations. You have Japanese ghost stories, tales of doom arctic exploration and apocalyptic tales.

My personal favorite is the Evan Dorkin/Jill Thompson story with the zombie dogs. This might seem like pure Dorkin silliness, but there's a gravitas that I haven't seen in Dorkin's writing up until now, especially in the place where the cat explains that the stray dogs get too hungry and desperate that they don't even care about the cars coming when they run across the street.

Definitely worth a bargain buy. Not sure if it's worth the high price for the collectible edition, but definitely worth a read.